The World Poker Tour North American tournament will be held at the Fallsview Casino Resort in Niagara Falls this year, in fitting with the fact that it was a Canadian that won the tournament last year. Will they be able to defend the Canadian poker tour title? Or, will it be someone from another country taking the crown this time around?

If you want to try your hand, and maybe even have a shot at the title yourself, it is possible – over at 888.com/mapleleaf you can sign up to take part in a Freeroll tournament – if you’re one of the top 10 in that tournament then you will be invited to play in a Satellite tournament, for a place at the WPT qualifier tournament scheduled to be held on October 6th.

Maybe you don’t have time to play that many matches – if that’s the case, then you can skip the Freerolls, and pay a 1c entry fee to access the Satellite tournament directly.

You don’t have to go to a casino to enter the tournaments – they’re played using the Pacific Poker client, which you can install on your PC or Mac. So you can fight for a chance to enter the most prestigious tournament of all time, from the comfort of your own home.

Earning a place at the WPT won’t cost you a penny if you go the online casino route – there’s no buy-ins, and the tournaments are free to play. Plus, the prize if you win is worth $12,000 between entry fee and help with accomodation and travel.

Even if you don’t think you’re quite as good as the pro’s yet, you should give this a try – it’s your chance to get some practice in against people who are playing a serious game, and you never know, you could get lucky this time around.

Poker has been around for more than 200 years. It has evolved from a simple game, played by professional gamblers and thieves, to a game played worldwide by everyone. Poker is now televised as a sport, not unlike golf and snooker, players play at international tournaments, books about poker are published every year and numerous online poker websites offer players tutorials, rules, tips.
The game itself has evolved over the years. Instead of the original game, which consisted of five cards, one round of betting and no card exchange at all, poker now has dozens of variations. The most popular poker variations are Texas Holdem, Omaha Hi Lo and Seven Card Stud.
Players who wish to learn about poker or expand their knowledge of the game are offered a unique and helpful tool in the form of Pacific Poker’s Poker School. This acclaimed tutorial provides beginners as well as experts with poker rules, strategies and insightful tips they will need to play like poker professionals.
Pacific Poker, the web’s fastest growing poker room, offers their interactive Poker School along with a chance to play Texas Holdem, Omaha Hi, Omaha Hi/Lo, Seven Card Stud, and Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo on their quality software, either for free or for real money. Pacific Poker’s parent company is publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange and the site is also known for its customer support staff.

You have had a rather good run of cards in online poker. When you and your buddies set up a weekend game in your den, you’ve also ruled the game. Now, you think that it is high time to try your hand in a game of casino poker. Problem is, the thought of sitting at a poker table with poker players who’re probably more experienced than you are fairly shakes you up. You’re understandably scared of making yourself the laughingstock of the game. Here are a few tips that can help set your mind at ease.

Show Your True Colors

So you are green and rightly so. You are new in the casino poker scene so why should you dread the thought of looking what you are – a casino poker newbie? If you don’t know what to do, ask. It’s as simple as that.

Of course, you may try learning more about casino etiquette before you actually sit at the poker table and play. It may be alright to show your inexperience, but it certainly isn’t alright to bug your opponents with your shamefaced questions and inevitable gaffes. There’s also the fact that newbie players are usually ‘lunch’ to poker game room sharks. Therefore, look inexperienced, but don’t be bothersome or stupid about it.

The best thing that you can do is go to the casino early and get some poker instruction with the casino in-house instructors and trainers. Most casinos have this value added service for newbies just like you. You should take advantage of this and use it as a learning experience before you go and get some serious playing done.

Use What You Can Afford to Lose

You’ve often enough heard the admonition that you should know your limits and stick to it. This is just a reiteration and it is strongly recommended that you heed this advice.

Before going out to play poker in the casino, set your limits and do not stray from it. Having a limit will give you a definite benchmark for saying when it’s time for you to quit. This is very important since you are new to the casino. You are more likely to be outmatched by your more experienced opponents so it pays to have a definitely set quitting point.

To ensure that you don’t find yourself at a great disadvantage, why don’t you choose to sit at tables with limits and with minimum stakes? At such tables, you know that your bankroll will go a longer way than it would ever do in a high-stakes, no limit game. Moreover, most players in such games are novices such as yourself so you won’t feel so obviously out of place.

Since gambling was first legalized in New Jersey in 1978, the casinos of Atlantic City have faced more than their fair share of obstacles. They have endured hurricanes, blizzards, and the collapse of a parking garage. Last year the casinos were even closed due to a State budget crisis, and more recently the city has been plagued by a serial killer targeting prostitutes. Despite all of this, gaming revenues at the casinos have always skyrocketed, increasing each year, until now.

Annual revenues for Atlantic City’s casinos is projected to decline in 2007, for the first time ever. A number of factors play into this expected decline in revenues. Atlantic City currently faces increased competition from slot parlors in neighboring states, such as Delaware and Pennsylvania, as well as the closing of one of the city’s casinos. It is also uncertain how much the new smoking ban will impact gaming revenues in Atlantic City.

Revenue figures released for the month of January are already down from 2006, triggering concerns that this could be the start of a trend that would carry forward through the rest of the year. If revenues do face a long-term decline, it would have negative consequences for both Atlantic City casinos and the State of New Jersey, which depends on taxes from casino revenues to support State budgets.

Carlos Tolosa, the Eastern Division President for Harrahs Entertainment said, “There will be an impact, no doubt. The Pennsylvania slots parlors will certainly cause competition. In the past, people just came to Atlantic City. That’s the part that always scares you. Atlantic City relies on high frequency customers.”

The new slot parlors in Pennsylvania have already begun to cut into Atlantic City’s casino revenues. Atlantic City went head-to-head against two new Philadelphia area slot parlors in January. Financial figures for this period showed Atlantic City’s overall revenues declining 2.9 percent from a year ago, with slot machine revenues specifically facing an even bigger 7.2 percent drop.

Philadelphia Park, located about 20 miles North of Philadelphia, opened it’s doors to the public on December 19. This was followed by the opening of Harrah’s Chester Casino and Racetrack on January 22. Both locations admitted that their target audience was comprised of customers who would have otherwise gone to Atlantic City.

While this may be bad news for Atlantic City Casinos and the taxes they generate for the State of New Jersey, it is not necessarily bad for the casino customers. Increased competition is generally good for consumers, and many industry insiders expect that the casinos will have to offer more financial incentives to keep players coming back. These incentives will likely result in a lot of free rooms, meals and show tickets up for grabs to anyone who will choose Atlantic City over the neighboring States’ alternatives. It is also likely to lead the city to expand revenues that are not associated with gambling.

“Clearly, Atlantic City recognizes that for its overall revenue to grow, it has to become less gaming-centric,” said Joseph Weinert, Vice President of Spectrum Gaming Group, a casino consulting firm. “A majority of Atlantic City’s customers will be able to play slots somewhere closer to home. Atlantic City has to give them a compelling reason to drive farther, stay longer and spend more.”

“It’s difficult to spend time on the gambling floor morning to night,” said Barbara Sieminski, a retiree from Mountaintop, Pennsylvania, who comes to the Borgata at least once a month for amenities like the manicure she treated herself to last week. “I come for the total package. Coming to Atlantic City is like a vacation for us.”

Even if revenues do continue to decline for 2007, it is not a trend that will be irreversible. Harrahs executives noted that the casinos shut down last July during a State budget crisis, which is an event that is not likely to repeat itself in the future. It should also be noted that Three new casinos will be adding more than 2,500 new hotel rooms to the city, which more than compensates for the closure of the Sands Casino and Hotel last November.

“I don’t think anybody doubts that long-term, Atlantic City is going to remain a powerhouse,” said Frank Fantini, publisher of The Gaming Morning Report.

Posted by DiggIt at 1:11 AM

Labels: atlantic city, borgata casino, new jersey casinos, philadelphia park

The goal of blackjack is to aquire cards so that the total value equals 21 or as close to 21 without going over 21. You may play alone against the dealer or with others who will also play against the dealer. You are all individuals and the money you bet does not affect the money that another person bets. You will place your initial bet in front of you prior to a round of cards being dealt. The dealer will then give ever paying player 2 cards going around the table in a clockwise direction. The dealer will also give himself 2 cards and one of these will be placed face up. Kings, Queens, Jacks, and 10’s are all valued at ten points while the remaining cards are at their numberd value. An Ace may be valued at either 1 or 11 at the players discretion.
I’ve got BlackJack

Blackjack occurs when a player holds an Ace and another face card worth 10 points. This is generally a winning hand but if te dealer also has blackjack ther will be what is referred to as a push where no money is won or lost. Winning with BlackJack pays out at the rate of 3:2
Hittin and Standin

When you want another card you are requesting a hit. This can often be conveyed to the dealer by tapping the table or a distinct nod. Be very clear in your communication as once a card is dealt if cannot be placed back into the deck. You’re generally going to want to take as many cards as safely possible while trying to get to 21 or close to 21. Once you feel you can no longer accept any more cards you are choosing to stand which may be conveyed to the dealer by shaking your head ‘no’ or waving your hand in a blocking fashion over your cards. Should your cards total more than 21, you’ve gone bust and lost your bet to the dealer.
Going Down with the Double Down

If your first two cards are a pair you have the option ot splitting them by offering a duplicate bet. You’ll then be dealt a matching card for each part of the pair and you’ll play these hands in a separate manner. If your pair are Aces you will only have the ability to accept one card each. Any Aces received after you’ve split the original pair cannot be counted towards an official BlackJack.
I Give Up

Depending upon the locale, you may have the option to surrender. This can be done after viewing your first two cards and allos you to pull back half of your original bet for not playing your hand.

Aides to US Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist said on September 5th that he is still trying to find a way to pass a bill to outlaw most forms of Internet gambling in the USA. But he offered no guarantee a deal could be struck before lawmakers recess at the end of September.

Frist would like to bring up the bill under unanimous consent, a process by which leaders from both parties agree to bring a bill to a vote on the Senate floor, the aides told reporters.

Outwardly there has been little movement on the bill. A similar version has already passed the U.S. House of Representatives. But efforts to move the Senate bill ran into opposition earlier in the summer from lobbyists representing casino owners and horse- and dog-racing interests.

The bill would prohibit most forms of Internet gambling (oddly enough except for horseracing and lotteries). It would make it illegal for banks and credit card companies to make payments to online gambling sites.

Supporters of a crackdown on Internet gambling say legislation is needed to clarify that a 1961 federal law banning interstate telephone betting also covers an array of online gambling.

Investors in British-based gaming companies such as BETonSPORTS Plc, Partygaming Plc and 888 Holdings Plc are closely watching the U.S. legislation.

The Republican-backed measure has been criticized by some as an election-year appeal to the party’s conservative base. Frist, of Tennessee, is widely seen as a potential presidential candidate. Last week, Frist appeared at a congressional field hearing in Cedar Rapids, Iowa — the state that holds the first presidential nominating contest in 2008 — to hear concerns about Internet gambling. However, congressional aides have said some Republican senators have placed holds on the bill, and that Democratic senators may eventually do so as well depending on how talks proceed. Any member of the Senate may place a secret “hold” on legislation, which prevents it from being brought up for a vote until concerns about the measure are resolved.

Please see related Current Affairs Article- Preserve Online Poker for US Players at http://www.pokerpages.com/articles/archives/current-affairs-0002.htm

Omaha Hi/Lo is a variant of Omaha. The betting, blinds, and postings are exactly the same as in Omaha. If you’re not familiar with Omaha, click here for a quick lesson. At the showdown, the pot is split between the holder of the highest hand, and the holder of the lowest hand, if the low hand qualifies.

To qualify for a low hand, you must have five distinct cards (no pairs), with no card higher than an 8. Remember, since you have to play two cards in your hand, the two cards in your hand and three on the board all need to be 8 or lower. Straights and flushes do not count against you. The best 5-card low hand is A-2-3-4-5 of any suit. The hand is “ranked” by starting with the highest low card. 7-4-3-2-1 would be considered a 7-low, and would lose to 6-4-3-2-1, a 6-low. If two players each have low hands with the same highest card, the next highest card determines the winner. 7-5-4-3-2 loses to 7-4-3-2-1. If there is no qualifying low hand, the high hand wins the entire pot.

Just as in the high version of Omaha, each player starts with four hole cards, and then the dealer places five cards face-up in the center of the table. These community cards are part of each player’s hand, so each player has access to seven cards. The difference between Omaha high and Omaha Hi/Lo, is that in Omaha Hi/Lo each player can potentially have two different hands: a high hand and a low hand.

Each player forms a five-card high hand by using only two (no more, no less, but they can be any two) of his hole cards together with only three (no more, no less, but they can be any three) of the five community cards. Each player forms a five-card low hand (if possible) by using only two (no more, no less, but they can be any two) of his hole cards together with only three (no more, no less, but they can be any three) of the five community cards. Both the high hand combination and the low hand combination can use the same set of cards, but they don’t have to; in fact, usually they would not.

Because of the qualifier restriction, if at least three cards 8 or lower do not appear among the community cards, a low hand is not possible.

Did you ever wish your “bad” hands could make you money? Then Razz could be the game for you. Part lowball, part 7-card stud, the goal is to make the best five-card low hand from seven cards.

Each player starts with two hole cards and one upcard; there are then three more rounds of upcards, with betting after each card, and a final downcard, just as in stud. Each player ends up with seven cards: four face up and three face down.

The player holding the best low hand using any five of their cards wins the pot. Aces are always low, and flushes and straights have no effect on the value of a hand. Also, it’s good to remember that drawing a pair will not hurt your hand. The best possible hand is A-2-3-4-5.

Each new hand begins with every player putting an ante into the pot. For example, in a $2/$4 limit game, each player would ante 40 cents. The ante is not like a blind, and does not count toward any future bets.

In the first round, the betting starts with the player having the highest upcard. This is a forced bet, and the software will automatically put the specified minimum bet (called the bring-in) into the pot.
Each player can then fold, call the bring-in, or complete the bet (that is, raise to the lower limit). Once the bring-in bet has been completed, there is a limit of three reraises. All future rounds have a three raise limit, as well.

The betting on fourth street always proceeds at the lower limit. Unlike 7-card stud, an open pair does not affect the betting limit. All bets and raises on fourth street will be increments of the low-limit bet. For example, if the low limit bet is $5, it can be raised to $10, and then reraised to $15. On fifth street, the bets start at the higher limit, and remain at that limit through the final round of betting.

After the last round of betting, the software will award the pot to the best low hand.

7 card stud poker is a form of stud poker, and each player will therefore be dealt a mix of face-up and face-down cards. The cards are dealt in multiple betting rounds. The original for of regarded as the first form of stud poker, but 7 card stud is today much more common. Earlier, 7 card stud was even more popular than Texas hold ‘em in casinos located in the eastern part of the United States, as well as in home games all over the nation. The number of players varies from two to eight in 7 card stud. When played at casinos, it is common to use a small ante and bring-in. When played at home, it is common to skip the bring-in.

The 7 card stud poker game starts with each player receiving three cards from the dealer. The first two cards are dealt face down, while the third one is dealt face up. If you have decided to use a bring-in, it is the player with the lowest ranking face-up card that should start the betting round by paying the bring-in. The betting round will then continue clockwise around the poker table. The player situated after the one who pays the bring-in is not allowed to check, since the bring-in is an open.

If two players have equally ranked open cards, you can use suit ranking to decided which one that should pay the bring-in. Suits can be ranked in several different ways, and you should therefore decide which ranking method to use before you start playing 7 card stud.

If you have decided not to use a bring-in, it will be the player with the highest face-up card that starts the betting round. This player may check. If two players have equally ranked face-up cards, the one sitting closest to the dealer (counting clockwise) will start.

When the initial betting round is over, the dealer will burn one card and then deal each player one face-up card. The dealer will always start dealing to the player sitting left of him or her. A second betting round will commence, and the player with the best visible poker hand will start it. It is naturally impossible to have straight, flush or full house during this stage of 7 card stud since this would require five visible cards. The player that starts the betting round may check or bet up to the limit of the game.

When the second betting round is over, each player will get a new card from the dealer. This card is placed face-up, and is followed by a third betting round that follows the same rules as the previous betting round. After that betting round, a fourth and a fifth card is dealt to each player. The fourth card is dealt face-up and the fifth card face-down. If more than one player is left, a showdown will take place where the hands are ranked. Each player will use his or her seven cards to create the best possible five card poker hand.

If you play a game of 7 card stud poker with many players, you might exhaust the deck before the game is over. Eight players that receive seven cards, and the four burned cards, will together result in 60 cards. This problem is often solved by itself, since players will fold during early stages of 7 card stud. If you do manage to exhaust the deck, you can use previously burned cards to complete the game. If those cards are not enough, a single community card will be dealt instead of the face-down card that each individual player usually receives during the final round. You can also limit the number of players to seven to prevent this type of problem. Cards from folded hands are never used to complete a game of 7 card stud

1. Speed of online poker play is roughly twice that of land based poker play. The number of hands per hour in a land poker room would be circa 30 per hour at best, perhaps as low as 20. Typical online poker game would see 50-60 hands per hour, and anything up to 120 per hour for short handed “Turbo” play.

2. Rake collected by an online poker room will be 5% or less of each pot whereas land based rooms will be 10% or even higher. In this regard online play is the better value option. Some countries, such as the United Kingdom have laws against the taking of rake. Instead they either charge by the hour or by the tournament. This is the reason that Caribbean Poker is favoured over Texas Holdem in land based casinos in the UK.

3. The quality of player found in an online poker room will generally be lower than that in land based rooms. There are many reasons for this but to actually go to a land based smoky room sitting down at a table of 10 takes an element of confidence that you don’t need in an online poker environment. Land based players are often better in that they usually understand the game before playing it. By way of contrast your average online poker newbie has just watched the World Poker Tour on the Travel Channel or ESPN. The only exceptions to this that I’ve found occur in Las Vegas where you get the full range of extremes from holiday makers trying their hand with the best in the world.

4. Online poker players can pick and choose the time of day they play as they can play 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week and do so from the comfort of their own home. Land based players must plan ahead and get to the venue at the due starting time.

5. Online poker players have more choice, in the number and variety of games to choose from, ranging from free play to cash games to tournaments of all sizes. If you want to win a seat at the upcoming 2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP), then you need to be looking towards online poker tournaments where a far greater range of choices await such as satellite entries from as little as $5.

6. Poker Tells between online and land based poker play are very different. Land based players spend more time observing body language and voice tells through opponent questioning than they do observing time delays between bets and bet size relative to the potential odds of higher hands. Online Poker Tells have more to do with timing, bet size, and table position rather than the judgement of facial expression.

7. Poker etiquette is more disciplined in land based poker rooms. The online poker experience can often be spoiled by drunken fools who believe they have Phil Ivey’s skill level even though they clearly don’t. Catch a lucky card in an online poker room and you may find yourself on the end of some verbal abuse (through the typed chat system). Phrases such as “you’re an idiot” and worse would not be tolerated in a land based room but go largely unchecked online. You always have the option to turn off player chat but my preferred playing style is to goad the offending player into playing on tilt (usually a simple thing to do). One recourse you do have against abuse is to report the player to the pit boss and they will be either banned from chat or thrown out of the room altogether.

8. Online poker gives you the unique ability to play more than one room at a time. Clearly this is not an option open to land based players. I know of people who play up to six tables simultaneously.

As you can see both environments have the potential for a really good game of poker. Different experiences to suit different player needs. Personally I don’t have a preference between the two. I value the convenience of online play, but still enjoy the interaction of a live room.

About the author:
Graham Easton is the author of this article. He is webmaster at
www.texashold-empoker.com.